Do you need a permit to replace a roof in Borough of Lewistown, PA?

Roofing questions: Borough of Lewistown, PA

When does a roof repair need a permit in Borough of Lewistown, PA?

Lewistown Borough's code lists installing a roof covering among work that needs a Borough permit, and the Borough prices residential roof work as a zoning permit plus an inspection fee. Section 110-13A(1) of the Borough Code, in Article I of Chapter 110, the Borough Building, Plumbing, Electrical and Property Maintenance Codes Ordinance (Ord. No. 86-2, March 24, 1986; read October 9, 2026), says that before any person undertakes listed work "he shall first obtain a zoning, building, plumbing or electrical permit, as the case may warrant, from the Department," and the list includes, as amended March 8, 2021 by Ord. No. 2021-4, "Installing exterior weather boarding, siding or veneer or installing roof decking, sheathing or roof covering," where a roof covering "includes shingles, a metal roof, a membrane roof or similar outer covering." The Borough's 2025 cost and fee schedule prices "RESIDENTIAL ROOF INSPECTIONS" as "$35.00 Zoning Permit" plus an inspection fee by estimated project cost, and the Borough's sheet "What Do I Need a Permit For & What Will I Need to Obtain One?" lists "Roof: roofing material and estimated project cost (FYI, you can only cover 1 layer of existing material)" among "common projects that require a permit." Article III of Chapter 110, the Borough's Uniform Construction Code Election Ordinance (Ord. No. 2004-3, May 10, 2004), names no roof work, and its Section 110-43A keeps in force building code ordinances adopted on or before July 1, 1999 "which equal or exceed the requirements of the code." The 2026 Commonwealth Code Inspection Services residential fee schedule the Borough posts has no roofing line. This record does not decide whether the Borough's roof permit is a permit under the Uniform Construction Code or a separate Borough permit. Under state law, Act 45 section 104(b)(5) and (6) list "Alterations to residential buildings which do not make structural changes or changes to means of egress" and "Repairs to residential buildings" among work the Act does not apply to, "except as might be required by ordinances in effect pursuant to section 303(b)(1) or adopted pursuant to section 503," and 34 Pa. Code 403.62(c) says "A permit is not required for the exceptions listed in § 403.1(b) (relating to scope) and the following, if the work does not violate a law or ordinance." State law sets no square-footage or percentage threshold for roof work; any threshold is set locally. The Uniform Construction Code "does not apply to" "Alterations to residential buildings which do not make structural changes or changes to means of egress, except as required by ordinances in effect under sections 303(b)(1) or 503 of the act" or to "Repairs to residential buildings, except as required by ordinances in effect under sections 303(b)(1) and 503 of the act" (34 Pa. Code 403.1(b)(8) and (9)), and "A permit is not required for the exceptions listed in § 403.1(b) (relating to scope) and the following, if the work does not violate a law or ordinance" (34 Pa. Code 403.62(c)). For houses the regulation adds: "An ordinary repair does not require a permit." Its list of work that is not an ordinary repair names cutting away a load-bearing wall, "The removal or cutting of any structural beam or load-bearing support," changes to a required means of egress, and new or relocated piping, wiring or mechanical work (34 Pa. Code 403.62(d)); roofing is not named. A municipality may require more: under Act 45 section 503(c) it "may enact ordinances pursuant to this section which adopt additional code requirements for alterations or repairs to residential buildings," after a public hearing and after filing the proposed ordinance with the Department of Labor and Industry. These rules concern a "Residential building," which the regulation defines as "Detached one-family and two-family dwellings and townhouses which are not more than three stories above grade plane in height with a separate means of egress and their accessory structures" (34 Pa. Code 401.1). Everything above is Pennsylvania state law, the same in every municipality. Locally, Lewistown Borough in Mifflin County issues permits through its Codes Enforcement Office, 2 East Third Street, which Section 110-13 of the Borough Code calls the Department (the Building Codes, Property Codes and Zoning Code Department). Section 110-39 says "This Borough hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act," the Borough's Permits, Codes, & Zoning page lists Commonwealth Code Inspection Services as its "Third Party Inspector" and posts that firm's 2026 Residential Permitting/Inspection Fee Schedule, and the Borough's 2025 cost and fee schedule says "Building Permits requiring inspections with Commonwealth Code Inspection Services will follow their Service Fee Schedule." Section 110-13A(1) names roof decking, sheathing and roof covering without an area or cost threshold; the fee schedule's inspection fee rises with estimated project cost.

Can you roof over an existing roof in Borough of Lewistown, PA?

Two layers at most where the state code reaches the job. Pennsylvania adopts the 2021 International Residential Code without changing its reroofing section, R908 (34 Pa. Code 403.21(a)(7); the State's list of changes names no Chapter 9 section). Section R908.3.1.1 says "A roof recover shall not be permitted where any of the following conditions occur," and the third condition is "Where the existing roof has two or more applications of any type of roof covering." So one existing layer may be covered once, and a roof that already has two layers is torn off to the deck. The same section also bars a recover "Where the existing roof or roof covering is water soaked or has deteriorated to the point that the existing roof or roof covering is not adequate as a base for additional roofing" and "Where the existing roof covering is slate, clay, cement or asbestos-cement tile." The existing-building code the State also adopts, the 2021 International Existing Building Code (34 Pa. Code 403.21(f)), carries the same three conditions in Section 705.2.1.1. These rules bind work the Uniform Construction Code reaches. The Act does not apply to "Repairs to residential buildings" or to alterations that make no structural change, "except as might be required by ordinances" (Act 45 section 104(b)(5) and (6)), so whether R908 binds a particular house reroof turns on that exclusion and on the municipality's own ordinances. Everything above is Pennsylvania state law, the same in every municipality. Locally, Lewistown Borough in Mifflin County issues permits through its Codes Enforcement Office, 2 East Third Street, which Section 110-13 of the Borough Code calls the Department (the Building Codes, Property Codes and Zoning Code Department). Section 110-39 says "This Borough hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act," the Borough's Permits, Codes, & Zoning page lists Commonwealth Code Inspection Services as its "Third Party Inspector" and posts that firm's 2026 Residential Permitting/Inspection Fee Schedule, and the Borough's 2025 cost and fee schedule says "Building Permits requiring inspections with Commonwealth Code Inspection Services will follow their Service Fee Schedule." Chapter 110 of the Borough Code changes nothing in the code's reroofing provisions. The Borough's permit sheet says "FYI, you can only cover 1 layer of existing material," which agrees with the rule above. Section 110-2A of Article I adopts "the 2009 International Residential Code by the International Code Council, or the newest version thereof as the Code is updated from time to time," Article III adopts the Uniform Construction Code naming no edition, and the Borough's Residential Building Permit Application (Rev. 5/27/14) lists "Applicable Codes: 2009 IBC/IRC"; the text above is the 2021 edition's, the 2009 edition's reroofing text was not read for this record, and this record does not decide which edition the Borough applies.

Do roofing contractors need a license or registration in Borough of Lewistown, PA?

Yes.

What building code does Borough of Lewistown, PA use?

The 2021 International Residential Code, as adopted by the State in the Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code (UCC). 34 Pa. Code 403.21(a)(7) adopts "The 'International Residential Code of 2021,' except that:" followed by the State's list of exclusions and modifications, effective January 1, 2026 (55 Pa.B. 7701). None of the State's changes touches Chapter 9, Roof Assemblies, or Section R803, Roof Sheathing, so those apply as the International Code Council publishes them. Work on existing buildings is also pointed to the State's existing-building code: "The repair, alteration, change of occupancy, addition and relocation of existing buildings must comply with Chapter 34 of the 'International Building Code of 2021' or with the 'International Existing Building Code of 2021'" (34 Pa. Code 403.21(f)). The UCC is the minimum everywhere in the state: "no municipality may propose or enact any ordinance which is less than the minimum requirement of the Uniform Construction Code" (Pennsylvania Construction Code Act, Act 45 of 1999, section 503(b)). The Act also lists work it "shall not apply to", including "Alterations to residential buildings which do not make structural changes or changes to means of egress" or to "Repairs to residential buildings," in each case "except as might be required by ordinances" kept in force under section 303(b)(1) or adopted under section 503 (Act 45 section 104(b)(5) and (6); 34 Pa. Code 403.1(b)(8) and (9)). The Act defines a repair as "The reconstruction or renewal of any part of an existing building for the purpose of its maintenance." So whether the code's roofing rules reach a given house reroof depends on the municipality's own ordinances. Everything above is Pennsylvania state law, the same in every municipality. Locally, Lewistown Borough in Mifflin County issues permits through its Codes Enforcement Office, 2 East Third Street, which Section 110-13 of the Borough Code calls the Department (the Building Codes, Property Codes and Zoning Code Department). Section 110-39 says "This Borough hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act," the Borough's Permits, Codes, & Zoning page lists Commonwealth Code Inspection Services as its "Third Party Inspector" and posts that firm's 2026 Residential Permitting/Inspection Fee Schedule, and the Borough's 2025 cost and fee schedule says "Building Permits requiring inspections with Commonwealth Code Inspection Services will follow their Service Fee Schedule." Section 110-40 says "The Uniform Construction Code, contained in 34 Pa. Code, Chapters 401-405, inclusive, and as amended from time to time, is hereby adopted and incorporated herein by reference as the municipal building code of the Borough of Lewistown," and Chapter 110 changes nothing in the code's roofing provisions. Section 110-2A of Article I adopts "the 2009 International Residential Code by the International Code Council, or the newest version thereof as the Code is updated from time to time," Article III adopts the Uniform Construction Code naming no edition, and the Borough's Residential Building Permit Application (Rev. 5/27/14) lists "Applicable Codes: 2009 IBC/IRC"; this record has not read the 2009 edition's text and does not decide which edition the Borough applies.